psych unit 2 (cognition)

place theory

pitch is determined by the part of the ear that the sound hits

frequency theory

pitch = frequency of neural impulses

volley theory

groups of neurons fire in rapid succession (out of phase), to sense high frequency sounds

conduction deafness

(big deaf) damage to outer + middle ear (mechanics, can be fixed by surgery)

sensorineural (nerve) deafness

(small deaf) damage to the hair cells (caused by loud noise, fixed by cochlear implant)

outer ear

ear canal, drum (everything you can touch)

middle ear (bones)

these vibrate, amplifying the sound: ossicles, oval window

inner ear

cochlea, auditory nerve

ossicles

hammer, anvil, stirrup

cochlea

basilar membrane, hair cells

audition transduction pathway

auditory nerve → thalamus → temporal lobe

auditory agnosia

can’t tell speech from non speech

auditory verbal agnosia

can’t understand meaning of words

sound localization

we know where the sound is coming from (hits one ear before other)

nearsight

can’t see far away (light falls in front of retina)

farsight

can’t see nearby (light falls behind retina)

blindspot

when light is reflected where the optic nerve hits the eye (everyone has this)

di/monochromatism

only one or two types of working cones

prosopragnosia

can’t recognize faces

blindsight

can’t see but react to visual stimuli

hue

light wavelengths

intensity

light amplitude

retina

light-sensitive (rods + cones)

lens

behind retina: focuses images

accomodation

lens change shape to focus

trichromatic theory

cones process color: red, green, blue

opponent process theory

opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision

fovea

focal point of retina where cones are

afterimage

what you see after staring @ bright light

ganglion cells

eye nerve cells transmit info from eye to brain

olfaction

smell

receptor cells on olfactory bulb, goes to amygdala + hippocampus

umami

tastes like protein

oleogustus

oily/fatty

gate control theory

the spinal cord is a gate that either allows or inhibits pain signals from reaching the brain

phantom limb syndrome

percieving feelings in amputated limb

kinesthetic sense

sensing position + orientation of body parts + handled by somatosensory cortex

vestibular

sensing body orientation (semicircular canals) + somatosensory cortex

absolute threshold

min stimulus needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time

difference threshold

min change in stimulus needed to detect it 50% of time

weber’s law

two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage not amount (as intensity inc., diff threshold proportionally inc.)

sensory adaptation

insensitivity due to constant exposure to a stimulus (habituation is for behavior)

sensory interaction

5 senses → perception of the world (e.g. flavor = taste + smell)

pheromones

trigger specific behavioral or physiological responses in others of the same species

selective attention

focusing conscious attention on a stimulus

inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects whenever attn. is directed elsewhere (gorilla)

change blindness

not noticing env. changes b/c attn. is elsewhere

perceptual set

a predisposition to percieve one thing and not another without having actually experienced the thing in question (taking a recommendation)

this can be replaced by experience

gestalt

make meaning of meaningless stimuli (outlet face)

figure ground

sorting things into fore and background

bottom up processing

senses → perception (accommodation)

top down processing

existing knowledge → perception (assimilation) (caramel onion)

schema

how you group info

cocktail party effect

focus on one auditory stimulus while filtering out background noise (eg lunchroom)

perceptual adaptation

if exposed to an inverted or altered visual field, you will adapt over time (drunk goggles)

schemas

learned concepts

retinal disparity

using the diff. btwn two images in each eye to find distance

perceptual constancy

a door is still a door even if it has apparently changed shape

algorithm

fool proof formula (slow)

heuristic

rule of thumb — fast but more error prone

representative heuristic

use a template of something you know and applying it (make assumptions) (top down processing)

availability heuristic

thinking based on info that pops into mind

mental set

something you’ve done in the past

approaching a problem with methods that have worked in the past

framing

advertising rhetoric (seared meat)

priming

exposure to a stimulus affects how someone will respond to a future stimulus

gambler’s fallacy

mistaken belief that random things won’t be random

sunk cost fallacy

tendency to continue investing time into something even though it is no longer beneficial (FBLA)

executive functioning

planning + smart things

creativity

making novel ideas or solutions

convergent thinking

process of elimination

divergent thinking

opposite of convergent (think outside of box)

schemas

mental molds to put concepts in (object ____s hold properties about objects)

concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas (different representations of a tree are still a tree)

prototype

best example of a category (a crow is a birdier bird than a penguin)

functional fixedness

we only think things can be used for one purpose

recall

retrieving learned info (fill in the blank)

recognition

identifying things prev. learned (mult. choice)

relearning

is easier to do than the first time

memory

acquiring, storing, retrieving info

explicit (declarative memory)

recollecting facts + events

implicit (nondeclarative) memory

info stored and used unconcsciously (muscle memory)

episodic memory

memory of personal experiences

procedural memory

memory of how to perform things (tie a shoe)

prospective memory

remembering to perform a future action

semantic memory

general knowledge about the world (e.g. bush was a president)

long term potentiation

strength of synaptic connections are strengthened due to repeated stimulation (memories no accessed will disappear)

short term memory

can hold a small amount of information (RAM)

working memory

manipulates whatever is in short-term memory (visuospatial sketchpad/phonological loop)

multi-store model

information passes through 3 stages as it is saved: sensory memory, short term memory, long term memory

encoding

automatic and effortful processing (different methods can be used)

chunking

grouping terms

rehearsal

retaining something through practice

serial position effect

we remember first (primacy) and last (recency) elements of a list the most, we forget middle

method of loci

picture yourself in a location, and place objects into specific places in that location (so you can remember the objects)

flashbulb memories

atypically clear memories processed through amygdala (first kiss)

retrograde amnesia

can’t recall past memories

anterograde amnesia

can’t form new memories

alzheimers

brain cells die, you lose memory

maintenance rehearsal

to keep info active in your short term memory

elaborative rehearsal

connecting new info to old

structural encoding

shallow; physical appearance